Missionary Renegade: Ministry Matter. . .supporting Christian ministry with resources, community, and inspiration. This Sunday, 8 December 2013

Ministry Matter. . .supporting Christian ministry with resources, community, and inspiration.

This Sunday, 8 December 2013

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#Follow the Star

When we talked about offering an Advent series, we wanted to do something completely different. No guilt trips, no depressing visuals, and most of all we wanted to create a vision that would be as inspirational to people who have experienced the Advent season for 20 years as it would be to those experiencing it for the first time.

What came out of our vision was #FollowTheStar.

Experience the journey toward Bethlehem, following the star through the night sky as others have done for thousands of years. Hope, Search, Follow, Believe, and finally Rejoice with us in this blessed season of the church year.

Each week beginning November 18th, MinistryMatters.com will provide you with free, original worship videos and other multimedia content that you may use in your church or any other setting. Share the videos and graphics on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or other social media outlets. To receive your downloads, please complete a free registration on MinistryMatters.com. This is your content, created by our team in the hope that we can share some of our contagious joy in the season with you.

If you love it, share it. That's all we ask. If there are additional file types or resources that you would like us to include in a future series, email us at feedback@ministrymatters.com. No guarantee that we can honor every request, but we will do our best.

We wish you all the blessings of this very joyous season.

Shane, Betsy, and Myca

Your MinistryMatters.com team

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Should Year-End Giving Feel Weird? by Jeff Anderson

Last week, a development leader of a $100 million-a-year ministry shared with me that 60% of their annual budget would be received in the last three months of the year, and much of that in December!

Some say it’s a shame Christian giving is influenced by the year-end tax calendar. In my opinion, this is not all bad. Our lives orbit around dates on the calendar. But what if God is actually OK with it?

We push hard Monday through Friday, and then we get a weekend rest and earn occasional breaks (Memorial Day, July 4th). As we round out the year, we have more extended breaks…Thanksgiving, then Christmas.

The year-end holidays are favorites. For many families they bring extra days to hang out, feast on an abundance of food, watch some football, and play corny board games with the kids.

And yes, people think about giving, too. Before it's all over and we toast into the New Year, we make sure we give our gifts.

Some church and ministry leaders are mindful to make sure the office is open on December 31st. They know this is the day some givers might be driving around to get their last minute giving on the books.

Gift Calendar

One of the first things God did for the Israelites (while working out a jailbreak from Egypt) was to give them a calendar. He filled it with three special holidays, each with periods of feasting… and giving.

The Passover kicked off the beginning of the year with a nice seven-day vacation. It was early spring when all the new momma sheep had birthed their lambs. The Israelites were careful to set aside the firstborn for sacrifice, along with every tenth sheep for the tithes. And as daddy was thumbing through the files (or knife notches on the barn stalls) he would note any vows they committed during the winter… and set aside those gifts as well.

After gathering the gifts, the children strapped their portable video players to the camel-humps and the family set off for their pilgrimage to the temple to feast, celebrate, give thanks… and give gifts, too.

Seven weeks later Pentecost arrived. This was when the early crop began to show in the fields, their chance to gather a firstfruits offering and thank God for the coming fall harvest.

And in the fall landowners would bring in the full harvest, taking inventory along the way. After shutting down their fields for winter, they gathered their gifts and set off for the year’s final festival, the Feast of Tabernacles. This one lasted 21 days! (Enough time to capture each of the 35 bowl games on TV.)

God staggered the Israelite calendar with gift seasons, each in sync with the livestock and harvest seasons. Folks worked hard during the year with periodic breaks to pause, assess God's blessings, set aside gifts… and offer them to God.

Holidays Are for You

Just as Jesus reminded us the Sabbath was for us, and not the other way around, remember the holiday calendar is for you. It’s your opportunity to celebrate with family and friends, count your blessings from God… and give your gifts.

Year-end giving can be a beautiful part of our life rhythm. God enjoys giving us these breaks, celebrations, and seasons of gifts. As you approach the year-end holidays, take the time to:

Assess your harvest. Look over your wage statements and other incomes sources. And while you’re at it, take note of your non-financial blessings as well.

Thank God for your blessings. He enjoys knowing you recognize these things are from Him.

Review your gifts throughout the year. Life gets busy. Sometimes we lose track.

Pray about how God would have you finish out your gift year.

And if you find yourself driving across town on December 31st to drop off a check, or getting online just before midnight to process one final gift transaction – don’t feel bad.

Instead look up the Heavens, close your eyes, smile… and then click.

Jeff Anderson has worked with churches and nonprofits for nearly two decades, in his own church, as Vice President of Generosity Initiatives with Crown Financial Ministries, and currently as leader of AcceptableGift.org. Jeff continues to consult and speak, and is the author of Plastic Donuts, Giving the Delights the Heart of the Father, published by Multnomah/Random House.

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Let's Keep Herod in Christmas by Brett Younger

Twenty-seven Christmases ago I was the new pastor of a Baptist church in Indiana. I decided we would have a Christmas Eve Candlelight Communion service—the first ever. I wanted everything to be perfect. It almost was. Snow fell that afternoon. A junior in high school, Melody, played “What Child Is This” on the flute. Three generations—a grandmother, her daughter, and granddaughter—lit the Advent candles. We sang the carols “O Come, All Ye Faithful,” “Away in a Manger,” and “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” We read the story—Mary, Joseph, the baby, and the manger. I remember thinking: This is a Hallmark card of a worship service. This is as picture-perfect a Christmas moment as any church has ever known.

That’s when Danny’s beeper went off. Danny was a member of the volunteer fire department. When his beeper sounded—as it often did— Danny ran out of the sanctuary. We had gotten used to it, but it was still disconcerting. Then we started singing “Silent Night.” As we got to “Wondrous Star, lend thy light,” Danny ran back in and shouted that church member Bob’s mother’s house was on fire. Bob’s family ran after Danny. Danny’s wife got up and left. Everyone had to choose between listening to the preacher’s sermon or slipping out one by one and going to a big fire. By the time I got Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem, the crowd— and I use that term loosely—was made up of those who were waiting for a ride home and those who had fallen asleep. That’s not how Christmas Eve Candlelight Communion services are supposed to turn out. Tragedies should wait until January, because they don’t fit our ideas about Christmas.

That’s why King Herod doesn’t fit the Christmas story. The horrifying sequence of events in Matthew’s Gospel doesn’t feel like it belongs in the Christmas story. The most difficult part to cast in the Christmas pageant is King Herod. Walmart sells a variety of plastic Nativity scenes for the yard, but there are no glow-in-the-dark King Herods. No Christmas card has this verse from Matthew on the front: “A voice was heard in Ramah, / wailing and loud lamentation” (Matthew 2:18). This part of the story may not seem to fit, but we need to hear it. Like a lot of stories, we have to hear the whole story or we get the story wrong.

Every true story admits that even in the midst of blinking decorations and flickering candles, darkness threatens the light. Ignoring the darkness is ignoring reality. We leave King Herod out of the Christmas story because we think we’re supposed to keep the hardships of the real world away from Christmas. Matthew says that Christmas came in the days of King Herod. King Herod was like Joseph Stalin. He executed his favorite wife, his brother-in-law, and three of his sons because he thought they wanted his crown.

We usually imagine angels speaking in soft, reassuring tones. The angel in Joseph’s dream shouted: “Wake up! Hurry! Run!” They escaped to Egypt. They were far from home, but the baby was safe.

Tragically, not everyone was safe. Herod’s order was the death of every boy in Bethlehem two years old and younger. Matthew can’t find words terrifying enough to describe the horror, so he borrows words from the prophet Jeremiah: “wailing and loud lamentation, / Rachel weeping for her children; / she refused to be consoled, because they are no more” (v. 18).

The first Christmas was soldiers with swords in the streets; mothers clutching their babies, hiding in the closet, trying not to breathe too loudly, and begging their infants not to cry. There aren’t many questions more impossible to answer than, “Why couldn’t the angel have warned them too?” Even the birth of the new King didn’t stop the suffering.

It’s not surprising that we skip this part of the story. It’s easy to understand why there’s no carol in our hymnal about the slaughter of the innocents. Perhaps there should be, because we need to understand that Christmas is God’s response to our sorrows.

My second Christmas as pastor of Central Baptist Church, I got a phone call from the county hospital on December 23. The night before, an unwed teenager had given birth to a stillborn baby. The social worker wanted me to lead a graveside service the next morning. She explained that they would normally have the service a day later or at least in the afternoon, but she “didn’t want the girl to associate this experience with Christmas.” The teenager had visited our church a few times. Marilyn (not her real name) was fifteen and had been raped by her grandfather. Christmas Eve was miserable. The snow had been on the ground for more than a week. It had rained and so the snow wasn’t pretty. The temperature was in the twenties. It was threatening to rain again. Marilyn’s older sister brought her straight from the hospital. Their parents didn’t come; they blamed Marilyn for what had happened. There were six of us there: Marilyn, her sister, the funeral director, two women from our church, and me. I knew what I had been told: “We don’t want her to associate this experience with Christmas.” I kept thinking about the story that Matthew tells. Christmas is mothers crying because their children have died: “wailing and loud lamentation . . . [refusing] to be consoled, because they are no more.” If we have to stand at a graveside on Christmas Eve, we need to remember the hope that comes with Christmas.

The part of this story that we’re used to leaving out—the sadness, suffering, and death—is most important. It’s the hard part that explains why this child is a holy child.

When we remember the story, we need to remember all of the story. God comes to the worst places and the most painful circumstances to share our suffering, to care for us in the midst of tragedy. Christ has come to bear our sorrows. We have not been left alone.

This holy season is the promise that God’s joy is deeper than our sadness, that ultimately life is more powerful than death, and that the light shines even in the darkness.

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Valuing Your Calling by Kimberly Dunnam Reisman

Recognizing and responding to the call of Jesus is what we call discipleship. It involves listening to God’s voice and following where that voice leads us. Let’s explore the call of Jesus.

A Call that Requires Courage

Jesus minced no words when calling people to follow, and Jesus called men and women alike. This is quite remarkable if we recall the cultural practices and expectations regarding women in Jesus’ time. Equally remarkable, given the circumstances, is the courage of the women who responded to Jesus’ call. During Jesus’ time, women were essentially treated as children. Their spiritual life was not their own but a vicarious experience mediated through their husbands and families. First-century Judaism and its society demanded that a respectable woman not be seen in public or speak to a man in public. It prohibited a woman from learning the Torah, following a rabbi, or making any ethical decisions apart from the guidance of her father or husband.

Of course Jesus knew about these restrictions. Like any adult male, particularly a rabbi (as Jesus was viewed throughout his ministry), Jesus knew that contact with women was supposed to be severely limited. Jesus knew about the prohibitions against talking with women or teaching them. Jesus knew that calling women to be his followers, touching them, or allowing them to touch him were forbidden. And Jesus knew that using them as illustrations in stories was pushing the envelope. Yet remarkably, Jesus talked with, taught, called, touched, was touched by, and included women anyway.

Women followed Jesus faithfully all over Galilee. According to all four of the Gospels, many women even undertook the weeklong trip to be at Jesus’ side in Jerusalem. It was Jesus’ women disciples who stayed at the cross as he died. It was Jesus’ women followers who saw were he was buried. And it was the women who were the first to witness Jesus’ resurrection.

It took courage for women in Jesus’ day to follow him because of the rigid messages from society and religion regarding women. Though our circumstances may be different from those of the women who lived 2,000 years ago, Jesus continues to call us, and his call remains remarkable. Likewise, our response continues to require courage. Even today there remains a huge gap between the messages that society and the church send regarding how women should follow Jesus and the way Jesus expects us to follow him. Jesus treated women as adults and expected them to follow him as adults; that same call and expectation is extended to us.

A Call That’s Personal and Communal

Jesus not only calls us; he calls us individually and uniquely. Consider the story of Samuel and Eli. In the simple details of this story we find profound truth related to our calling.

Samuel was dedicated to the Lord from the time he was born and went to live in the temple with Eli, the priest. When he was a young boy, one night Samuel heard someone calling him. Three different times the voice called out Samuel’s name, and three times he went to Eli to ask if he had called him. On the third time, Eli realized that the Lord must be calling to Samuel, so he told him to go back and lie down, listen for the voice, and say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening” (1 Samuel 3:9 NRSV).

God had called Eli to be his priest and Eli had responded, but Eli didn’t hear when God called Samuel. God’s call to Samuel was personal—for Samuel’s ears and no other’s.

Our callings are like that as well. God calls each of us in a unique and personal way. When God speaks to you, that call is for your ears only. You may share it with others and you may journey with others as they respond to their unique callings, but God’s call to you belongs to you. God’s call is personal.

As unique as our callings are, we belong to a community of faith. Though God calls us individually, God calls us in the context of that community. So we are called to follow Christ both in our personal endeavors and in the context of the believing community, and it is the believing community that helps us verify and solidify our call to follow Jesus.

Though Samuel’s call was for his ears only, Samuel didn’t recognize it on his own. Eli helped him to hear it. The community of faith can be a valuable source of help for us as well. It is often in the context of the community of faith that we are able to discover gifts within us that we have yet to recognize. The believing community also serves as sounding boards, helping us to confirm and clarify our sense of call by words of encouragement and words of caution.

A Call to Abandon Idolatry

Hearing God’s voice and responding to God’s call tend to push us far from our comfort zones. When Jesus ate in the home of Mary and Martha, Martha was busy preparing the meal while Mary sat at Jesus’ feet, listening to him teach. When Martha asked Jesus to do something about it, he challenged Martha to rethink the things that wasted her time and diverted her attention, the very things she believed were virtues for women.

At a deeper level, this is Jesus’ call to us as well. Jesus calls us to examine how we spend our time, to study what receives our attention, and to take responsibility for our own spiritual growth and development. Unlike his contemporaries, Jesus treated women like adults; he assumed an adult level of competence and demanded that they enter into spiritual reflection along with men. This required evaluating where their focus was. He expects no less of us today.

Evaluating where our focus is helps us to guard against idolatry, which is becoming attached or devoted to something in a way that moves us away from our center in Christ. We must continually ask ourselves: What is my center? Is it still Christ? Where is my focus? Is it on following Jesus, or am I distracted? To whom am I listening—Jesus or the world?

The world sends us many messages about what is important. We are like Martha and like the rich man who wanted to follow Jesus but could not do as Jesus requested and sell everything he had: we listen to the world’s messages and build our lives around them. Like the rich man, our idol may be money. Or it may be power or status or recognition—the fast track to corporate or financial success or security. Or our idols may be subtler, as Martha’s were: a clean house, perfect hostessing, home-cooked meals, well-mannered kids who get good grades. They may be the distractions that we encounter in our daily life, the “small stuff ” we’re not supposed to sweat but do.

A particularly subtle idol is the family. This has been my point of struggle over the years. It is culturally acceptable, even highly praised, to make the care of our families an all-engrossing task. What a sharp contrast to Jesus’ teaching! Though he was given the opportunity, Jesus refused to promote family responsibilities above discipleship responsibilities.

In the Gospel of Luke we read, “A woman in the crowd called out [to Jesus], ‘God bless your mother—the womb from which you came, and the breasts that nursed you!’ Jesus replied, ‘But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice’” (11:27-28).

It is hard for us to hear such a sharp word against the very institution we have so elevated. It makes us wonder why Jesus was so harsh. Doesn’t Jesus want us to care for our families and our children? Doesn’t Jesus want us to raise our children well, nurturing them so they too will become good disciples? Of course he does! But Jesus is aware of our keen ability to be lured into idol worship. Because of that awareness, he spoke strongly and got our attention. Our relationship with God is to come before all else...

A Call to Value Your Time

If we are to answer the call of Jesus, we also must learn to value our time. At its heart, Christian faith is a response to God’s gracious love and promises in Jesus Christ. Part of our response is a commitment to the nurture of that faith. We disregard God’s promises if we initially respond in faith but then allow our faith to wither because we haven’t taken steps to nourish it. Nurturing our faith takes time.

As women, we are not always encouraged to value our time. My husband has often told me that I need a lesson in time management. Maybe I do. But what really plagues women is not an inability to manage time. What plagues us is the difficulty we have in valuing it. Society tells us, and we often believe, that our time is simply not as valuable as men’s time is. If we are to be faithful disciples, we must guard against this devaluing of our time. If we are to remain centered in Christ, we have to turn a deaf ear to the cultural messages that tell us that our callings to spiritual nurture and personal development are not important. Our time is not only important; it is the key to our spiritual growth. We must be intentional about nurturing our faith and cultivating our gifts, talents, and callings.

Jesus has called us, and following Jesus is valuable. How we live that out may differ at varying stages of our lives, but at every turn we must be diligent to assert to ourselves and to others that our time and our pursuits are important, even when we are not actively working to serve or please others. “Valuing Our Calling” helps us to live a life centered in Christ.

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Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany by Ronald J. Allen

The word Advent transliterates the Latin adventus, which means “coming.” The season of Advent makes a double-edged theological point. Advent ties together the first and second comings of Jesus to stress that the redeeming work of God through Jesus that was manifest in the first advent (the birth) is not complete until the second advent the return of Jesus). Advent is thus a time to prepare for both the first and second comings of Jesus.

Preachers may need to explain that the birth of Jesus only initiates the work of God taking place through Jesus. This is why several Gospel readings in the Revised Common Lectionary on the last Sundays of Ordinary Time focus on the second coming, as do the readings on the First Sunday of Advent, itself.* This raises the question for the preacher, “How do we prepare for this second coming?” The lectionary uses the figure of John the Baptist to represent the fundamental act of preparation: to repent from collusion with the values, practices, and powers of the idolatrous old age, and to turn toward the coming realm of God.

Only on the Fourth Sunday of Advent does the Christian year turn our attention to the birth of Jesus. The preacher could help the congregation recognize the birth of Jesus not as an end but as divine authorization of the ministry of Jesus, a work that climaxes only at the second coming.

The preacher following the Revised Common Lectionary may need to address a point at which some members of the church may be confused, as revealed in a parishioner’s remark, “I thought Advent is the season when we anticipate the birth of the infant Jesus. Why are we talking about the second coming and John the Baptist?” The lectionary preacher needs to help the congregation toward adequate visions of Advent. The non-lectionary preacher might focus on popular associations for the four Sundays of Advent: hope, peace, joy and love, or on Christian practices that prepare the congregation for the second and first comings, such as repentance, fasting, prayer, and neighbor-love.

Christmas

Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and the Sundays after Christmas give the preacher an opportunity to explore not only the meaning of the birth of Jesus but also larger issues of Christology.* On a Christological spectrum, meanings of Jesus vary from the high end, which sees the birth of Jesus as the incarnation of God become flesh, to the low end, which places minimal theological significance on the birth of Jesus.

The former emphasis calls for the preacher to unpack the significance of the incarnation for the church and world. The issue for this preacher and congregation is less how Jesus can be both fully human and fully divine and more why this development matters. What does it do for church and world?

The emphasis at the other end of the Christological spectrum gives the preacher an opportunity to help the congregation think about how the birth texts can contribute to their confidence that God authorizes the ministry of Jesus. The minister can also think with the congregation about the significance of the broader ministry of Jesus in such roles as rabbi, prophet, and wisdom teacher.

Regardless of the location of the preacher on the Christological spectrum, the preacher likely faces a problem that bleeds into the church from North American Christmas culture. Many households reduce Christmas to giving and receiving gifts in a warm family time. Without disrespecting such genuine but reduced associations, the preacher needs to help the congregation open the lens of its vision to see the birth of Jesus signaling God’s possibilities for renewal in a broken world.

Epiphany Day

Epiphany is not a season but a day that brings the Advent–Christmas–Epiphany cycle to a conclusion. The word epiphany transliterates a Greek word for “manifestation.” Epiphany occurs on January 6, twelve days after Christmas. When Epiphany takes place during the week, some churches observe a Sunday near January 6 as Epiphany Sunday.

Since the Revised Common Lectionary assigns the same Gospel reading for Epiphany in each of the three lectionary years (Matt. 2:1-12), the visit of the astrologers—gentiles whose presence in the text prefigures the gentile mission in Matthew—is the main focus of Epiphany Day. That text functions here as a theological symbol of the larger conviction that God’s blessing flows through Jesus to gentiles in a way similar to its flow through Israel.

The preacher may unreflectively imply that God’s love for gentiles was hidden until Jesus. To the contrary, according to the priestly theologians, the purpose of Israel’s life was to model the way of blessing for gentiles (for example, Gen. 12:1-3, Isa. 42:6). Strands of the end-time thinking that influenced the Gospels and Letters looked forward to a great reunion of Jewish and gentile peoples in the Realm. The ministry of Jesus, signaling nearness of the apocalypse, points to the coming of that reunion. Jesus’ followers can welcome gentiles into the eschatological community by repentance, baptism, and living in the ways of God.

*The Sunday honoring Christ the Cosmic Ruler (Proper 29, 34) immediately precedes the First Sunday of Advent. While the Gospel text for Year A is the final apocalyptic judgment (Matt. 25:31-46), the texts for Years B and C are from the trial and death of Jesus (John 18:33-37; Luke 23:33-43) and thus call attention to the fact that Jesus’ rule is not shallow triumphalism but comes from brutal confrontation with the rulers of the old age. While this makes an important theological point, parishioners often need an explanation for why we come to the climax of the Christian year—which has been building toward the second coming—and then read from the crucifixion.

*Christian theology after the Bible places much greater emphasis on the birth of Jesus than do the Gospels and Letters. Mark shows no interest in the birth. Paul does draw on the preexistence of Jesus and his descent from heaven but does not dwell on the birth or life of Jesus. Paul focuses instead on Jesus’ death, resurrection, and return. In both Matthew and Luke-Acts, the birth of Jesus is a very small part of the overall books. John gives the fullest theological significance to Jesus as the preexistent Word who becomes flesh. None of these writers—even John—fully articulates the doctrine of the incarnation that comes to expression in later Christian thinking.

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This Sunday, 8 December 2013

Second Sunday of Advent (Isaiah 11:The Peaceful Kingdom

1 A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,

and a branch shall grow out of his roots.

2 The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,

the spirit of wisdom and understanding,

the spirit of counsel and might,

the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

3 His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see,

or decide by what his ears hear;

4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,

and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;

he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,

and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

5 Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist,

and faithfulness the belt around his loins.

6 The wolf shall live with the lamb,

the leopard shall lie down with the kid,

the calf and the lion and the fatling together,

and a little child shall lead them.

7 The cow and the bear shall graze,

their young shall lie down together;

and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,

and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.

9 They will not hurt or destroy

on all my holy mountain;

for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord

as the waters cover the sea.

Return of the Remnant of Israel and Judah

10 On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.

Psalm 72:Prayer for Guidance and Support for the King

Of Solomon.

1 Give the king your justice, O God,

and your righteousness to a king’s son.

2 May he judge your people with righteousness,

and your poor with justice.

3 May the mountains yield prosperity for the people,

and the hills, in righteousness.

4 May he defend the cause of the poor of the people,

give deliverance to the needy,

and crush the oppressor.

5 May he live[a] while the sun endures,

and as long as the moon, throughout all generations.

6 May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass,

like showers that water the earth.

7 In his days may righteousness flourish

and peace abound, until the moon is no more.

Footnotes:

Psalm 72:5 Gk: Heb may they fear you

18 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,

who alone does wondrous things.

19 Blessed be his glorious name forever;

may his glory fill the whole earth.

Amen and Amen.

Romans 15:4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. 5 May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, 6 so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Gospel for Jews and Gentiles Alike

7 Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. 8 For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of the truth of God in order that he might confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, 9 and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,

“Therefore I will confess[a] you among the Gentiles,

and sing praises to your name”;

10 and again he says,

“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people”;

11 and again,

“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,

and let all the peoples praise him”;

12 and again Isaiah says,

“The root of Jesse shall come,

the one who rises to rule the Gentiles;

in him the Gentiles shall hope.”

13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Footnotes:

Romans 15:9 Or thank

Matthew 3:The Proclamation of John the Baptist

1 In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”[a] 3 This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said,

“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:

‘Prepare the way of the Lord,

make his paths straight.’”

4 Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, 6 and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

7 But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruit worthy of repentance. 9 Do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. 10 Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

11 “I baptize you with[b] water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with[c] the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

Footnotes:

Matthew 3:2 Or is at hand

Matthew 3:11 Or in

Matthew 3:11 Or in(NRSV))

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A Prophetic Nudge by Mike Childress

Isaiah 11:1-10

Every now and then, Isaiah taps us on the shoulder to say, “You better sit up straight and listen to this!” Today’s reading is just such a lesson. I call Isaiah 11:1-10 a prophetic nudge.

Isaiah was a pretty tough prophet. He pulled no nudges with the people to whom he directed his thoughts. He still doesn’t pull any nudges.

Prior to this episode of his prophecy, Israel had been humbled and laid low. To put it another way, the land looked something akin to areas of California ravaged by wildfires in recent years. Israel was a smoldering wasteland. The people had brought God’s judgment on themselves; consequently, their neighbors measured vengeance on them. But as always with God, complete annihilation did not occur.

Here’s the scene. Months and months after devastation, Isaiah is walking amid the desolate land. The smell of soot and ash fills his nostrils. Certainly, this is the last straw. Finally, Israel has paid the price. Her sin has found her out and, seemingly, she is no more.

Isaiah sits and ponders God’s warnings to Israel and the impending consequences. All around him is evidence of a nation that has thumbed its nose at God.

As Isaiah thinks, he looks down at the log upon which he is sitting and notices something amazing. In the midst of the charcoal and ash he sees something protruding from the log. It’s a tiny, green shoot reaching for the sun. In a flash, Isaiah senses God’s presence: “A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots” (Isaiah 11:1). In the midst of a seemingly dead and lifeless setting, God may admonish and discipline but never to the point of abandonment.

Like all previous generations, a learning moment is emerging once again for Israel, a moment that will influence all future generations. In God’s future will come One who will be the image and the model for all humanity. In Advent, we look back and recognize the person Isaiah points to in the future to be Jesus of Nazareth.

But we have to be careful here. A literal translation will not work when we read verses 6-10. The prophet acts as an artist, painting a picture of what life can be like when God’s integrity and justice are living and thriving realities in the actions of people. If we take any route other than the metaphorical one, then all we will accomplish is a trip to the emergency room if we allow our children to play with poisonous reptiles.

As a young boy, I recall our dog and tabby cat romping and playing together in the front yard. Captain was a terrier-hound mix, always frisky and ready to launch. Rusty was no cozy cat. He walked on his toes, ready to spring into action at a moment’s notice. We would let them out of the house and they would make our huge front lawn their playground. Rusty would chase Captain in circles. I can still see him tucking his tail and bouncing in a circle to avoid Rusty’s grasp. But eventually, Rusty would grab him and slam him to the ground. Drivers would actually stop and watch them play. Obviously, they didn’t fit the stereotype of the dog-cat relationship.

This is what can happen when adversaries turn their respective protected territories into sandboxes and play with one another. When the oppressor and the oppressed become advocates for a single cause and bury the hatchet, a community benefits. I believe it was President Lincoln who said the objective for ending the Civil War was to turn enemies into friends. When the lamb and the wolf romp, it means just that—enemies are being turned into friends.

In God’s scheme of things, the lowly in this world are not to be the prey of the powerful. Big companies do not take advantage of smaller companies and devour them by running them out of business. The rich and powerful become the advocates for those who are oppressed by economics. Or, when business owners cooperate by reaching out to the indigent poor who reside in streets and alleys, this is evidence that God’s realm is emerging in our very neighborhoods.

When we as a nation work together to reach out to the dispossessed and disenfranchised and take steps to help them help themselves and become part of the valued community, then we make our communities safer places for children to live and thrive. The image of the child playing over a rattlesnake’s hole is a picture of a community that values rehabilitation and recovery in order that its children may not become the victims or prey of those who desperately need our compassion and help.

In these days, whether it is to the local church or the international neighborhood, I believe Isaiah has much to nudge us about. When he says, “The whole earth will be brimming with knowing God-Alive, / a living knowledge of God” (v. 9 THE MESSAGE), is he not speaking about nations having dialogue and sharing resources on behalf of the poor and oppressed?

Think what the world might look like had our nation begun the arduous and difficult task of calling Arabs and Muslims from around the world to discuss why the twin towers disaster in New York City happened rather than designing a war room? For those who hold America’s legacy of peace and nation-building initiatives dear, it is disturbing to see these values shelved in favor of war and nation-destruction.

Does this make any sense? Can we sense a prophetic nudge in such matters? Is there evidence of such transformation, due to God’s presence in our city, our state, our nation, even in our global communities?

The prophet is not nudging us to come up with another abstract cause and do nothing about the real issues that exist in our communities. He is nudging specific people to do specific things, to help God transform this world and help it reflect the truth that God is with us.

Advent is a time to be stirred from our spiritual stupor and stirred by the truth of Isaiah’s prophetic nudge.

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Worship Elements: December 8, 2013 by Joanne Carlson Brown

Second Sunday of Advent

COLOR: Blue or Purple

SCRIPTURE READINGS: Isaiah 11:1-10; Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19; Romans 15:4-13; Matthew 3:1-12

THEME IDEAS

Prophecy, promises, and preparation—all are part of the Advent tradition. They serve as reminders in this hectic season that there is more to prophecy than guessing what is in this package; more to promises than what Santa Claus will bring; more to preparation than cleaning house and putting on a spread for a holiday party. On this second Sunday of Advent, we are called back to the longing, not for a certain present, but for a messiah who brings about a beloved community of harmony and peace—but not without opposition. These passages speak of wishes, desires, and the hint of fulfillment that is Christmas. We need to hear, believe, and get ready.

INVITATION AND GATHERING

Call to Worship (Isaiah 11, Psalm 72, Matthew 3)

In this season of prophecy, promise, and preparation, we come to be renewed and refreshed.

We come to be inspired by stories of a messiah

who will change the world—and change us.

We come to listen for words of hope and joy,

promise and challenge.

We come with open ears, open minds,

and open hearts. We come to receive

the blessings God has in store for us

in this season of waiting.

Come! Let us worship our God—

the One who brings all things to fulfillment.

Opening Prayer (Isaiah 11, Romans 15, Matthew 3)

God of hope and encouragement,

we come in the midst of this season

of busyness and preparations:

to find a time and space to slow down,

to reflect on what our true preparations

should be.

We need to prepare our hearts

to receive the gifts of love and hope.

We need to prepare our minds

to focus on your promise

that a messiah will come

and nothing will be the same.

We need to prepare our spirits:

to praise God for prophecy,

promises, and preparation;

to find hope and encouragement;

to find peace and joy.

May we do so now, in our time of worship. Amen.

PROCLAMATION AND RESPONSE

Prayer of Confession (Isaiah 11, Psalm 72, Matthew 3)

O God,

the stories of our faith have lost their power.

We have heard the prophecies spoken so many times,

the promises retold again and again,

the call to prepare ourselves for your coming

repeated so often,

we don’t really hear or heed them anymore.

We have replaced these messages of life:

with guessing what presents we are getting,

with preparing for parties

and the social obligations of Christmas.

Bring us back to a sense of mystery:

a sense of awe, a sense of wonder,

a sense of excitement, a sense of anticipation,

a sense that something special

is about to break into our everyday world.

Help us prepare our hearts, souls, and minds

for the coming of the messiah. Amen.

Words of Assurance (Psalm 72)

God’s promises are sure—

promises of steadfast love and forgiveness.

God deals with God’s people

with righteousness and justice.

Rejoice and be glad!

Passing the Peace of Christ (Romans 15)

Paul urges the Romans to welcome one another, just as Christ has welcomed them. Let us greet one another with words and signs of peace and welcome.

Response to the Word

May these words of prophecy, promise, and preparation encourage us to steadfast love and action.

THANKSGIVING AND COMMUNION

Invitation to Offering (Psalm 72)

Our God has done wondrous things, and has done them for us. Let us respond to God’s acts of love and wonder by offering our whole selves, that God’s promises might be fulfilled through us.

Offering Prayer (Isaiah 11)

We thank you, Holy One,

for all your good gifts,

especially the gifts of prophecy, promise,

and calls for preparation.

As a thankful response to these gifts,

we offer our belief, our commitments, and our money,

that we may hasten the time

when no one will hurt or destroy

on all God’s holy mountain.

SENDING FORTH

Benediction (Romans 15)

May the God of hope

fill you with all joy and peace in believing,

that you may abound in hope

by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

CONTEMPORARY OPTIONS

Contemporary Gathering Words (Isaiah 11)

Get this! Someone special is coming—

someone who will be wise;

who won’t judge on appearances;

who will live a good life;

who will bring about a time

when wolves and lambs,

leopards and goats,

cows and lions

all lie down together.

And we’re invited to be there

to help make it happen.

So come and hear the stories again,

and get ready for quite a happening.

Praise Sentences (Psalm 72)

Blessed be God’s glorious name forever.

May God’s glory fill all the earth.

Amen and amen!

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Worship Connection: December 8, 2013 by Nancy C. Townley

Second Sunday of Advent

COLOR: Blue or Purple

SCRIPTURE READINGS: Isaiah 11:1-10; Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19; Romans 15:4-13; Matthew 3:1-12

CALLS TO WORSHIP

Call to Worship #1:

L: The prophet Isaiah declared that justice and peace shall come through the family of Jesse.

P: This justice shall be for all of creation.

L: Peace shall be established in all the world.

P: Get ready! Prepare for God’s peace to reign!

L: Blessed be God who does such wondrous things!

P: We give thanks to God for this time of healing and hope. AMEN.

Call to Worship #2:

L: Get ready, people of God! The time of hope and peace is at hand.

P: We are called to action rather than reaction.

L: Open your hearts to God’s word and God’s will.

P: Help us to be workers for God rather than observers.

L: Come, draw near to God in faith.

P: Let us prepare our hearts to receive the wondrous gifts of God. AMEN.

Call to Worship #3:

[Using THE FAITH WE SING, p. 2089, “Wild and Lone the Prophet’s Voice,” offer the following call to worship as directed.]

L: The call of God has come to us. How shall we respond?

P: We have many choices. One is to sit and do nothing and see what God has in store. Another is to prepare ourselves for the coming of God’s mighty kingdom by repenting and changing our lives to be in tune with God.

Soloist: singing verse 1 of “Wild and Lone the Prophet’s Voice”

L: We are called to active faith--to turn our lives around and work for God.

P: God will be with us, forgiving, encouraging, strengthening us for God’s work.

Soloist: singing verse 2 of “Wild and Lone the Prophet’s Voice”

L: Our Advent journey of preparation continues.

P: We need to get ourselves ready to receive God’s most precious gift.

L: Lord, help us to be strong and ready to follow you.

P: Open our hearts and spirits this day. AMEN.

Call to Worship #4:

L: This day is a day of preparation.

P: Open our hearts, O Lord, and make us ready to receive you.

L: Repentance, changing our attitudes, our lives, is the beginning of our preparation.

P: Lord, give us courage and confidence.

L: God will fill us with joy and peace as we become witnesses to God’s love.

P: Lord, help us to be faithful servants all of our days. AMEN.

PRAYERS, LITANY/READING, BENEDICTION

Opening Prayer

Patient and loving God, we so easily launch ourselves in preparation for the secular festival of giving and parties and the swirl of social events; but we forget that the true preparation is the readiness of our hearts to receive you. Help us look again at our lives and turn them around so that they may be in tune with your will. We ask this in Jesus’ Name, AMEN.

The Lighting of the Advent Candle: The Candle of Readiness: Prepare!

Reader 1:

From the foundation of Jesse, from the stump, there shall come a new shoot!

Reader 2:

God’s spirit shall rest upon him.

Reader 3:

He shall find delight in all of God’s creation!

Reader 4:

Peace shall reign—old enmities shall cease! For on that day we will celebrate God’s love with one another.

Today we light two candles. The first is the candle of Patience, reminding us to watch and wait for what God is about to do. [Light the first candle]

The second candle is the candle of Readiness, enabling us to look at our lives, to get rid of all those things that keep us from God, to change our ways and live as God would have us live. [The second candle is lighted]

Reader 1:

Come, see the lights. Let their brightness fill you.

Reader 2:

Come, feel the warmth of the lights. Let them give you comfort.

Reader3:

Come, draw near to the lights, for God is breaking through to you.

Reader 4:

Come, rejoice in the lights, God is with us!

Prayer of Confession

Lord of mercy and peace, open our hearts to receive your words of hope. We live far too much in darkness and fear. We have let the fears invade the very center of our lives and find ourselves changing, moving from your light to the darkness of despair. It seems that this world and its people are more pleased to fight and destroy than they are to have peace and harmony. We become part of that crowd when we wallow in anger, resentment, apathy, and greed. Forgive us, patient and merciful God. Help us be people who will look at the ways in which we have blocked your presence; ways in which we have truly failed to be your people. Give us courage and strength to change our lives, that your peace may become a reality in this world, right now, this day. For we offer this prayer in the name of Jesus. AMEN.

Words of Assurance

Though the darkness seems so deep, do not fear. God is with us. Repent! Turn your lives to God. God’s love is being poured out for you, always. AMEN

Pastoral Prayer

God of Advent waiting and watching, we have come to you this day with hearts heavy, with concerns for family and friends; for world situations; for struggles in home, community, state, and nation. We feel powerless to affect any changes. So we withdraw into ourselves, quick to criticize and slow to change our own behavior. Today you have called us to prepare ourselves to receive this “shoot” which shall arise from the stump of Jesse. You remind us that this is the one who will bring messages of peace. He will help us to become faithful disciples and servants. But we have much work to do. Our preparation needs to focus on our own attitudes and actions. We need to clean our spiritual houses of the cobwebs of hate, greed, apathy, suspicion. We need to focus more on your absolute love and forgiveness. As we turn our lives to you, offering names and situations in prayers for your healing mercies, help us to remember that our own healing is vital. Enable us to be strong and confident workers for you in this world. AMEN.

Reading

[Using THE UNITED METHODIST HYMNAL, p. 211, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” offer this reading as directed. You may want to have a soloist or small ensemble sing the suggested verses.]

Reader 1:

The shoot from the stump of Jesse? What in the world is that? What are they talking about? Message of hope and possibility? I doubt that. This world is hopeless. People want to live in anger, hostility, misery. Just look at it all. Do you see much good news on TV. The newspapers are very quick to pick up all the troubles and violence, but the good news of someone helping someone else is relegated to the back page in a one-inch paragraph. Good News from God? No one cares. No one listens.

Soloist: singing verse 4 of “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”

Reader 2:

What is it with us people? All throughout biblical history, God has spoken through the prophets, through creation, to the hearts of God’s people. But we insist on turning to our own ways. We think we possess all knowledge. We want instant answers and solutions to our problems. We don’t know how to wait and be patient. And then we shout to the rafters that God doesn’t care, doesn’t exist. So we sink into the abyss of our own greed and folly. O that God would pour God’s wisdom into our wayward hearts!

Soloist/ensemble: singing verse 2 of “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”

Reader 3:

Darkness floods our hearts. Not the darkness of longer and colder nights, but the darkness of doubt and despair. Inside we cry for peace and hope. But our outer actions proclaim fear and faithlessness. It is as though we are bound in grief; waiting for the inevitable death of our spirits. The gloom is far too real, even during this time of preparation. Lord, send your light to us. Disperse and destroy this gloom that has invaded our hearts. Bring us to hope. Help us again prepare our hearts for love and peace.

Ensemble: singing verse 6 of “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”

Benediction

Prepare for the coming of the Lord! Make way in your hearts for love! Get rid of all anger and fear, for God is about to bring incredible light to the world! Go in peace and confidence as witnesses to God’s love. AMEN

ARTISTIC ELEMENTS

The traditional color for this season is PURPLE; however, I prefer BLUE, the alternate color.

The theme for this second Sunday of Advent is: PREPARE!

We are immersed in preparations for our holiday celebrations. We are getting our homes ready, our gift-giving ready, meals and parties planned. But we are neglecting to prepare our hearts by changing the ways in which we have blocked God’s love and peace in us and in our actions and attitudes.

An interesting approach might be to move from darkness into light. In the light of that idea, I am suggesting a layering of fabric, beginning with the darkest blue, dark navy blue, for the first Sunday of Advent, and then adding a royal blue for Advent 2, medium blue for Advent 3, and pale blue (Mary’s color) for Advent 4. White will be used for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day/Christmastide.

Because Advent and Christmas traditions vary in all congregations, you may want to make major alterations to the following suggestions. I will be going with the themes of Advent 1: Watch and Wait; Advent 2: Prepare!; Advent 3: Behold/Believe; Advent 4: Rejoice; and Christmas Eve/Christmas Day: Celebrate!

If you are using Advent candles, you might consider using pillar candles--three medium blue candles about 6-8” high and one pink 6-8” high pillar candle. Place two of the blue candles on one side of the center riser and a blue and the pink candle on the other side. You may want to place risers so that these candles are elevated.

SURFACE:

Place an 8” riser on the center of the worship table, toward the back. Place two risers about 6” high on the worship center, to the right and left but about 6” in front of the center riser; place a bench or floor riser in front of the worship center. Optional: You may place other risers as needed, but make sure that the center riser is not obscured by any other risers.

FABRIC:

The entire worship area, including all risers, should be covered with the dark navy blue fabric, making sure that the fabric puddles to the floor in front of the worship center. Add the royal blue fabric on each side of the worship table. Each strip of fabric should be about 4 yards long and about 30” wide. [The eventual effect will be darker fabric on the outside, moving toward the lighter and eventually white fabric in the center of the worship table. So the color range will appear as follows: dark navy blue - royal blue - medium blue - light blue - white - light blue - medium blue - royal blue - dark navy blue.]

CANDLES:

See the section on lighting the Advent candles. If you are using a separate wreath, not placed on the worship center, you may still use the liturgy for lighting the candles.

FLOWERS/FOLIAGE:

Generally I do not use flowers and foliage until Christmas Eve when all the memorial poinsettias and other Christmas plants are placed in the church. Go with your church tradition and the theme you have chosen.

ROCKS/WOOD:

Depending on which theme you have chosen, you may want to use a sparse amount of rocks and wood, signifying the stumbling blocks and difficulties of discipleship. You might want to use a barren branch and attach a small green leaf at the center of the worship table.

OTHER:

This will depend on the theme you have chosen.

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Communal Prayer for Advent 2 (Mt. 3:1-12) by Kasey Hitt

God, we are a people who are surrounded by noise outside of us and filled with noise inside of us. The clutter within builds up and buries the way to our hearts. You've given us a gift to clear a way, to unburden ourselves, and that's confession.

We come to You as people came to John the Baptist to confess—

In the silence we allow the memories and the words to rise up so that we may speak them to You. Here's what we've been carrying around, the harm we've done knowingly or unknowingly to ourselves and others, here's what has crowded out Your Voice of Love...

(~30 seconds of silence)

Forgive us. Forgive us.

Just admitting them lifts a burden. Just speaking them to You allows our hearts to be bathed and cleansed, preparing a way to hear Your invitation to repentance. May we not only confess but turn away again and again from the thoughts and actions which create the burdens and clutter.

Give us grace to continuously prepare a way for You in our hearts, our community and our world. Come Lord Jesus, Amen

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Worship for Kids: December 8, 2013 by Carolyn C. Brown From a Child's Point of View

Old Testament: Isaiah 11:1-10. Because they are so dependent on their leaders, children are very appreciative of those who are fair. A teacher who grades fairly, a coach who gives everyone a chance, or a Scout leader who does not play favorites is highly valued. Having had experience with leaders who are less than fair, children appreciate the fair ones and claim God's promise of a totally fair leader.

A sprout growing out of a stump is not common enough in nature to assume that children (or urban adults) will be familiar with the phenomenon. It will need to be scientifically explained before children will understand Isaiah's message. Older children, once they understand the Jesse tree, often find great hope in it for all the seemingly hopeless situations in their lives and world.

Psalm: 72:1-7, 18-19. This psalm praises two leaders: Solomon (and his son); and God's messiah. Children begin to understand the psalm when they hear it as a public prayer for King Solomon, and they can add their prayers for their own leaders. Then they are primed to think about GOd's promised leader, who is more fair than even the most just human leaders.

Epistle: Romans 15:4-13. One example of God's justice is that God kept the promise that Jesus would come to the Jewish people. (Keeping promises is part of God's justice.) But Jesus kept the promise for everyone else. God's justice is for everyone, so God wants us to work on getting along with all people. For Paul, that meant spending his life introducing the Christian faith to non-Jews and trying to help Jews and Gentiles get along. For children today, it means treating everyone—people of other ethnic, economic, or neighborhood groups; and even people they do not like—with love and respect.

Because this is a complex passage, few children will make any sense of the text as it is read. Plan to present its message to children through the sermon.

Gospel: Matthew 3:1-12. Children are fascinated by the colorful aspects of John the Baptist. They need to hear that John wore animal skins and ate locusts (grasshoppers) and honey because they were easy to find. John was too busy telling people about God's justice to spend time cooking or finding neat clothes. Compare his dedication to that of athletes preparing for the Olympics, or a person who is so busy making a gift for a friend that she forgets to eat.

John's poetic images (Abraham's children, axes laid to trees, sandals to be carried, winnowing forks, chaff burning in unquenchable fires) are too much to explain in one worship service. So simply present John's message in words children understand—that God does not care whether your families are rich or poor, whether your brothers and sisters are smart and attractive or embarrassing, whether your friends are the "in" group or "nerds," or which church you go to. God cares about what you do. God expects you to live by God's rules or to repent (change your ways).

Watch Words

Children use fairness instead of justice. Fairness is often applied to everyday situations, while justice seems removed from everyday concerns. Use the terms interchangeably and often, to help children recognize their connection.

Define repent if you use it. John does not want us to be sorry for the unjust things we do. He wants us to stop treating people "unfairly" or "unjustly."

Avoid Gentile. Speak instead of God's justice, which includes all people. Name specific, familiar groups that are treated today as Gentiles were treated in Paul's day.

Let the Children Sing

"Hail to the Lord's Anointed" is based on Psalm 72. Older children can match the verses in the psalm with those in the hymn, but the vocabulary of the hymn is challenging, even for twelve-year-olds.

"Lord, I Want to Be a Christian" is the easiest hymn with which children can sing their repentance.

The Liturgical Child

1. In the worship center, display a Jesse tree. Ask a creative person to make an arrangement in which an evergreen branch is drilled into a small stump, or a pot covered with burlap to look like a stump. Or wrap a sand-filled bucket with brown craft paper to look like a stump, and "plant" a small tree or evergreen branch in the bucket.

2. While lighting the candle of God's promised justice as the second candle of the Advent wreath, read Isaiah's prophecy, or some statement such as this:

We all want to be treated fairly. God has promised that one day we will be. Last week we lighted the first candle of Advent, for God's promised peace. Today we light the second candle, for God's promised justice. We light it for all the little kids who are picked on, for those whose poverty means they never get a fair chance at anything, and for those who live in countries ruled by unfair people and laws. God promises that day there will be justice for us all.

3. Invite the congregation to read Psalm 72 as if they were in a crowd, shouting to a king they hope will be a just leader. Divide the congregation in half and ask the people to read the verses alternately, loudly and enthusiastically.

4. If you pray for just leaders, include children's leaders—teachers, coaches, and club leaders.

5. Create a litany prayer of petitions, to each of which the congregational response is, "Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

Sermon Resources

1. Explore Old Testament stories about our longing for, and failure to attain, justice. As each story is told, add a poster board ornament to your Jesse tree (Or ask a child to add the ornament). Consider the following ornaments/stories:

• Adam and Eve begin the human failure to live by God's rules (an apple with a bite out of it).

• Through Moses, God gave us a clear set of rules for just living. But God's people immediately and repeatedly to proved that knowing the rules does not give us the power to create just world (Ten Commandment tablets).

• David and Solomon tried to build a just nation. Though they did well, neither was perfectly just, and the kings who ruled after them were often miserable failures. No human can establish God's justice (star of David, or crown).

• Knowing that we could neither follow just rules nor build a just world on our own, God promised to establish the justice. God would send a Messiah. Describe how Jesus inaugurated this justice in his ministry, death, and resurrection (cross and crown).

2. Invite children and other worshipers to create new pairings of animals who will get along. Such pairings lead to joining usually uncooperative human groups.

3. Paraphrase Paul's encouragement to Jews and Gentiles to get along. Address it to different groups that do not treat one another well today. Consider including older and younger brothers and sisters, rival school groups, even "the boys" and "the girls." Such a paraphrase might be repeated as the Charge and Benediction.

4. Open a sermon on justice with the cry, "But it's not fair!" followed by examples ranging from a child whose friends are going to a movie while she must visit a sick aunt with her family, to a poor athlete who tries hard but never gets the good results of a gifted athlete who hardly seems to try at all, to people who live under oppressive governments and social systems.

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Sermon Options: December 8, 2013

CHRISTMAS GREATNESS

Isaiah 11:1-10

Sometimes big things come in small packages. One man said that he had learned after years of marriage that when his wife says that she just wants something small for Christmas, it means that she wants jewelry. Some days seem small, but can later prove to be big. The day I met my future wife did not seem all that significant, but I did not know then that one day I would marry her; it proved to be a big day.

Christmas greatness is that way. It begins with what seems to be mundane and ends up being the most important thing in the world. It sneaks up on us. We don't realize how big it is until it's almost too late.

I. The Origin of Christmas Greatness Is Humble

During the lifetime of Isaiah, Judah was only a stump in comparison with the mighty forest of Assyria. Yet, in God's timing, by God's power, that stump became great. It started with just a twig—a shoot of new growth. No one would have voted for this unimpressive stump as "Most Likely to Succeed." But this small shoot changed the course of history, altered the nature of our world, and transformed millions of lives.

Isaiah used a fitting analogy for the birth of Jesus. The supernatural came in the form of the simple on the night that he was born. What appeared to be mundane was really miraculous. He was just a baby, but he was God in human form. Mary was just a plain Palestinian girl, but she was having a baby as a virgin. They were just ordinary shepherds, but an angelic host split the night sky to announce to them the birth of the Savior of humankind.

II. The Embodiment of Christmas Greatness Is Jesus

His greatness was not that of a celebrity, but of a servant. He went to the common people, not to the rich and royal. He touched the marginalized to manifest his power—a boy with fishes and loaves, a bleeding woman, a diminutive tax collector. He said, "Blessed are the meek," not "Blessed are the mighty." His followers were ordinary people, yet they changed the world. After all, he taught that his Kingdom would begin as a tiny mustard seed and would become a great tree. His death was the most ignominious possible, but through it he accomplished the redemption of the human race. Virtually everything Jesus ever did came in a small package, but it was really great. It started with an ordinary-looking infant—just a shoot from the stem of Jesse. But every Christian church, hospital, benevolence organization, and countless great things have come out of that small package.

III. The Nature of Christmas Greatness Is Determined by God

What made Jesus great? It was his character, and Isaiah gives us a glimpse of it. Jesus was great because the Spirit of the Lord was upon him (see Luke 4:18). According to Isaiah, this gave him wisdom and understanding, counsel and strength, and knowledge and the fear of the Lord. His delight was not in pleasing people, but in pleasing God. His character was marked with righteousness, compassion, fairness, truth, and faithfulness (vv. 3-5). The result of his life will be cosmic peace. Ultimately, through him God will restore the world to its intended order and beauty (vv. 6-9).

God wants to create this Christmas kind of greatness in us (Matt. 20:25-28). This is a typical-looking worship service. But it would be just like God to touch someone in this small service in a way that would make a great difference. (N. Allen Moseley)

AT CHRISTMAS TIME, DON'T MISS CHRISTMAS!

Romans 15:4-13

A man who lives in Hollywood says this to friends who come to visit: "When you are in Hollywood, don't miss Hollywood." He reminds his guests that his town is much more than a movie set. They won't see stars giving autographs or movie crews with cameras whirring. In a similar way the Scriptures seem to say to us, "At Christmas, don't miss Christmas." We can get so busy that the season passes over us like a plane at night, heard but not really seen.

I. Know the Hope That Comes with God

Christmas is a season of hope, and Advent is a message of the church, Santa Claus notwithstanding. The merchants have practically stolen this season by their message of "Buy, bye, bye!" Even so, this season is about God, who sent his Son into this world so that the world through him might be saved. Another word for this reality is hope .

We naturally think of this as a season of receiving, so think of what you can receive from God. One of his gifts is salvation from your sins. Another is a sense of belonging and purpose in life. A third gift is work to do in his Kingdom. All of this is part of the hope that is ours from our relationship with Christ.

II. Accept the People Who Come from God

"Welcome one another," said Paul. But this is more than just "buddy-buddy" feelings. Paul added the specification, "just as Christ has welcomed you" (v. 7).

Many people this time of year are already tired, broke, preoccupied, and cranky. Contrast this with the fact that Jesus came as the Prince of Peace. Why not accept some of his peace in your life during this season?

III. Give the Praise That Is Due to God

We also think of this season as a time of giving. What can you give this year that will express your faith and obedience? What about giving your life to Christ? We can also give gifts to the church to be used to spread the message about Christ and his love.

Perhaps the finest thing to give is praise to God. Paul breaks out into song in verses 9-13. Isn't that really the mood of Advent? At Christmas, don't miss Christmas. There is meaning behind the madness. (Don M. Aycock)

A CALL TO NEW LIFE

Matthew 3:1-12

What a unique character John the Baptist must have been! The first prophet in Israel in four hundred years, he burst on the scene with a bizarre appearance and a powerful message: God is about to do a new thing among us, and you must prepare by coming to God in repentance.

What new thing does God want to do in your life? Have you experienced the things that John told the people they must do in order to prepare for God's presence?

I. Preparation for Christ Requires Confession (v. 6)

Have you ever known someone who had a lingering illness but who refused to seek a doctor's attention? You have to recognize that there's a problem before you will seek assistance from outside yourself.

Confession of sin is an acknowledgment that you have fallen short of God's perfect will for your life, that there is a spiritual sickness within you that requires the help of a Master Healer. Only in confession can we find authentic forgiveness.

II. Preparation for Christ Requires Obedience (v. 8)

John challenged the religious leadership to demonstrate their faith through specific, concrete acts of service. Just as a good tree produces fruit, so also a faithful life will produce actions of obedience and service for Christ. Did you hear about the little boy who was acting up at the dinner table? He stood up in his chair, and despite his mother's demands, he continued to stand in the chair. Finally, she came around behind his chair and forced him to sit. After squirming for a time, he finally sat still, but he said defiantly, "I may be sitting on the outside, but I'm standing on the inside!" How like that child so many of us are—defiantly insisting on our own way, when all the time God wants to give us so much more if we will only trust and obey him.

III. Preparation for Christ Requires Dependence (v. 9)

It's little wonder that the religious establishment opposed John's work, for he was doing something unprecedented. Baptism was not new in Judaism; it was used as a step in the process of converting persons to the faith. But John wasn't simply baptizing converts; he was baptizing Jews! And he reminded his pious opponents that they couldn't rely on their religious heritage for salvation; repentance and faith involve recognition of their own inadequacy and a complete dependence on God.

For some people, the most difficult part of coming to Christ is acknowledging that they need help from beyond themselves, that they are not sufficient in and of themselves. That truth is at the heart of the gospel; it is only as we place ourselves in Christ's hands, relying on his love and grace as the only source of salvation, that we can find authentic peace.

John was preparing the way for Christ by preparing the hearts and lives of the people. Are you prepared for Christ to come into your life today? (Michael Duduit)

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Disastrous Christmas

Disastrous Christmas by Don Underwood

Forty years ago I was the youth minister at a church in a county seat town. There was a strong tradition in this church of providing a live nativity scene every year, and it was the responsibility of the youth minister to somehow pull this off. I later figured out why no truly sane person would accept this assignment for more than a few years in a row, so it was a natural match for the youth minister, who rarely lasts more than a few years at best.

When I say this was a live nativity scene, I am talking about every part. We had live people, a live donkey, some live sheep, everything but a camel. And, of course, it was the animals that caused all the problems. Well, the animals and the occasional adult who would show up to play Joseph in a state that could be described as less than stone sober.

During the three years I oversaw this production, everything that could happen did. The donkey jumped out of the trailer on the way to the church one night and had to be roped on its romp down Main Street. One of the sheep got loose and ran over the baby Jesus, prompting Joseph to utter a word not found in the original text. The Wise Men accidentally knelt in a spot that had been thoroughly fertilized by the creatures, giving rise to quite vocal speculation among the onlookers about how wise men could be that dumb.

Looking back on my years as the director of this fiasco, my fondest memories are of all the things that went wrong. Frankly, we knew each year that something would go horribly awry, and it was that knowledge that caused us to enter into the annual venture with such high morale and anticipation. It would have been no fun whatsoever had the animals cooperated, or had the actors acted professionally. It was the unknown but inevitable and looming disaster that lent real color to this event, and once it was over each year we all began the ritual of saying “never again” while secretly pondering whether next year’s catastrophe could possibly outdo this one.

If you are aware of my fondness for analogy and think I am describing your Christmas experience, you are only half right. When you read the actual text, you discover that the original Christmas was a strange mixture of disaster and joy, of plans laid and plans disrupted, of people at their best and people at their worst. That’s the way Christmas has been happening for two thousand years now. I think it must be God’s way of blessing the messiness of our ordinary lives.

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Book Review: The New Testament

Book Review by Bromleigh McCleneghan

The New Testament: Methods and Meanings, Warren Carter and Amy Jo Levine. Abingdon, 2013

I am bored with my preaching, a colleague said to me recently. And if I’m bored, I can only imagine how my poor congregation feels.

I know how she feels. It can be paralyzing to try to tell the old, old story in novel ways week in and week out. Evangelism experts will rightly remind preachers that if your congregation is made up of folks under sixty, it’s likely your people lack much in the way of familiarity with that old, old story. Preach the Bible, we are told. Avoid stories about your dog, children, or preferred political party.

That can be good advice, but for those who want to preach thematically, —who were taught that proof-texting was a sin – it can be difficult to say, and render compelling, why this healing story is different than that healing story; why it matters if Paul was or wasn’t the writer of this so-called Pauline epistle; what’s problematic and yet holy about this pericope.

For the bored pastor, or the frustrated, hungry congregation, however, solid and creative biblical interpretation makes all the difference in the world. I heard a doctoral student preach a reading of Jonah earlier this fall that I’d never heard. Her sermon was about justice and reconciliation, and it was both deeply pastoral and hugely prophetic. It was, admittedly, long. But I was fed, and my congregation gushed for weeks. My colleague and I finally had to step in so the preacher could escape coffee fellowship.

I want to be that kind of preacher, that kind of writer, that kind of teacher – the kind who has the time and knowledge to do that kind of reading and interpretation. There are a number of reasons I’m not, at least, not every week. But the easiest one to remedy is a lack of good resources readily available. I can’t just sign up for a New Testament class every time I have to preach…but I can stock my library.

Warren Carter and Amy Jo Levine are thoughtful, challenging teachers and scholars, and their new book, The New Testament: Methods and Meanings, provides a wonderful resource for preachers and teachers. Their hermeneutic is carefully explained at the outset, in terms even lay readers can follow; “the questions you ask shape the answers you get,” they point out in their introduction. Bringing together a wealth of tools – from form criticism to the historical-critical method – Levine and Carter walk with preachers through the New Testament and point out what is worth seeing anew. Whether one sits to read this thick volume all the way through, or picks it up to read each chapter as a letter or book arises on the preaching schedule, spending time with this text will enliven and deepen the way you approach the biblical text.

Preachers: buy this book. You and your congregation will be glad you did.

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Missionary Renegade

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Ministry Matter. . .supporting Christian ministry with resources, community, and inspiration. This Sunday, 8 December 2013

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